The Iowa Rural Development Council (IRDC) announced the selection of 10 local leadership initiatives to receive funding for trainings that focus on skills and professional development. The SPARK Leadership Grant Program is targeted toward rural communities who want to host soft skills-based leadership trainings. Funded by Alliant Energy, the program aims to strengthen leadership capacity and collaboration across rural Iowa. Communities selected for SPARK grants of up to $2,500 are Buchanan County, Calhoun County, Charles City, Crawford County, Fort Madison, Jasper County, Maquoketa, Nevada, Oelwein and Pocahontas County. “We were thrilled with the number of outstanding applications we received for this first round of SPARK Grants,” IRDC board chair Mark Reinig said in a prepared statement. “The grant recipients will be holding trainings that, among other things, support that community’s vision for expanding local leadership and their ability to address existing gaps.”